TIDMREM
RNS Number : 2472X
Rare Earth Minerals PLC
20 February 2017
Rare Earth Minerals Plc
("Rare Earth Minerals", "REM" or "the Company")
Drill Programme Completed at the Cinovec Lithium Project
Rare Earth Mineral Plc (AIM/ISDX: REM; OTC: REMMY) is pleased to
report that European Metals Holdings Limited ("EMH") announced on
the 17 February a substantial upgrade of its JORC compliant
Indicated Mineral Resource at the Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project in
the Czech Republic, confirming its status as the largest Lithium
resource in Europe
EMH recently completed an extensive seven-month drilling
campaign at Cinovec, consisting of 17 holes for 6,081 meters
designed to increase the confidence in the resource base and to
upgrade a significant part of the resource from the Inferred
category to the higher confidence Indicated category.
REM holds a 20.76% economic interest in Cinovec, via its
interest in European Metals Holdings Limited ("EMH"). The full EMH
release is available at:
http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/EMH/13131140.html
Highlights from the EMH release:
-- Lithium Indicated Resource increased 50% to 3.9 Mt LCE,
contained in 347.7 Mt @ 0.45% Li(2) O and 0.04% Sn (0.1% Li
cut-off)
-- Lithium Total Resource increased 11.8% to 7.0 Mt LCE,
contained in 656.5 Mt @ 0.43% Li(2) O and 0.04% Sn (0.1% Li
cut-off)
-- Total contained tin in the Total Mineral Resource increases to 262,600 tonnes
-- Lithium Exploration Target remains 350 to 450 Mt @ 0.39% to 0.47% for 3.4 Mt to 5.3 Mt of LCE.
Kiran Morzaria, the Chief Executive Officer of REM,
commented:
"This upgraded resource statement firmly establishes Cinovec as
globally significant, strategically located lithium deposit. These
results have shown Cinovec to have a robust Mineral Resource, and
will, in our opinion, strengthen the project economics going
forward. EMH has established a strong base from which it can
progress its development programme, and we look forward to updating
the market on what has been an excellent investment for REM."
Independent Resource Consultant Lynn Widenbar noted:
"The additional new drilling results from 2016 have greatly
increased confidence in the historic surface and underground
drilling and sampling, resulting in a substantial amount of
previously Inferred material being re-classified as Indicated. The
additional drilling has also enabled the two main value elements of
lithium and tin to be combined in one complete model that covers
the entire mineralisation at the Cinovec deposit."
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is
conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to
estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further
exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral
Resource.
Mineral Resource Upgrade
Independent expert Lynn Widenbar of Widenbar and Associates
updated the Mineral Resource Estimates. Mr Widenbar has compiled
all resource estimates at Cinovec to-date. As stated above, the two
main value elements of lithium and tin have been combined in one
complete model that covers the entire mineralisation at the Cinovec
deposit as set out in Table 1 below, at a 0.1% Li Cut-off.
Table 1: Cinovec Project Mineral Resource Estimate, February
2017 (0.1% Li Cut-off)
Cinovec Lithium and Tin Mineral Resource
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category Gross
----------- -------- ---------------------------------------------------
Cut-off Tonnes Li Li2O LCE (Mt) Sn (%) Sn (t)
Li (%) (Mt) (%) (%)
----------- -------- ------- ----- ----- --------- ------- --------
Indicated 0.1 347.7 0.21 0.45 3.89 0.04 139,080
----------- -------- ------- ----- ----- --------- ------- --------
Inferred 0.1 308.8 0.18 0.39 2.99 0.04 123,520
----------- -------- ------- ----- ----- --------- ------- --------
Total 0.1 656.5 0.2 0.43 6.99 0.04 262,600
----------- -------- ------- ----- ----- --------- ------- --------
Notes:
1. Mineral Resources are not reserves until they have
demonstrated economic viability based on a feasibility study or
pre- feasibility study.
2. Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of any reserves and
are prepared by Widenbar in accordance with the guidelines of the
JORC Code.
3. The effective date of the Mineral Resource is February 2017.
4. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate.
5. The operator of the project is Geomet s.r.o., a wholly-owned
subsidiary of EMH. Gross and Net Attributable resources are the
same.
6. Any apparent inconsistencies are due to rounding errors.
7. LCE is Lithium Carbonate Equivalent and is equivalent to Li2CO3.
The Cinovec database used for the Mineral Resource Estimate
incorporates information derived from almost 800 historic
underground and surface diamond drill holes, historic underground
channel sampling as well as the 26 surface diamond holes drilled to
date by European Metals. A total of 73,785 assay intervals are now
included in the database. Figure 1 is a map showing the location of
holes drilled by European Metals relative to historic drill holes
and underground workings.
(The full graphic of Figure 1 - "Plan view of Cinovec Project
drill hole locations, historic underground workings, Li Indicated
and Inferred Resource"- will be available on the European Metals
website www.europeanmet.com and in the ASX announcement to be
released prior to ASX market open Monday, 20 February 2017.)
Historically, core samples were either split or consumed
entirely, with intervals ranging from 0.03 to 10.5m; more than
99.75% of historic drill samples fall in a range between 0.1 and 3m
long. Historic channel samples were collected across 1m intervals.
Samples collected from 2014, 2015 and 2016 holes drilled by
European Metals comprised half core and honoured geological
contacts and mineralised domains, ranging from 0.5 to 2.1m
long.
Historic analytical methods included XRF and wet chemical
techniques; samples collected from the new holes were analysed by
fusion or 4 acid digest with ICP finish. Assay data were composited
to 1m intervals prior to Mineral Resource estimation.
Sample spacing used in Mineral Resource estimation for tin
ranges from continuous channel sampling up to approximately 100m.
The range reflects the density of historical work - samples are
very closely spaced in areas of underground development and trial
mining, less so in areas sampled only by surface or underground
drill holes.
Sample spacing used for lithium Mineral Resource estimation is
wider, as not all historic samples were assayed for lithium; sample
spacing typically ranges from 50m to 200m. Note that only blocks in
the lithium model which had an average distance to samples used of
less than 100m were assigned to the Mineral Resource, with the
remainder considered to form part of an Exploration Target.
At a 0.1% Li cutoff, the Exploration Target is: 350 to 450 Mt @
0.39 to 0.47% Li2O for 3.4 to 5.3 Mt LCE
The Sn-W-Li mineralisation is hosted in an alkalic granite
cupola of late Variscan age. Tin and tungsten occur mainly in oxide
minerals (cassiterite and wolframite). Lithium occurs mainly in
zinnwaldite, a Li-rich muscovite. Quartz veining and greisenisation
is associated with the mineralisation. Typically, highest grade
lithium mineralization is associated with the greisen but large
portions of the lithium resource are also hosted in the greisenized
granite or other types of altered granite.
A geological domain model was constructed using Leapfrog
software with solid wireframes representing greisen, granite,
greisenised granite and the overlying barren rhyolite. In addition
a thin overburden layer is modelled near surface and a low-mica
granite is modelled to form the lower limit of the mineralisation.
This was used to both control interpolation and to assign density
to the model.
(The full graphic of Figure 2 - "Easting Section at -778890E
showing geological model"- will be available on the European Metals
website www.europeanmet.com and in the ASX announcement to be
released prior to ASX market open Monday, 20 February 2017.)
Analysis of sample lengths indicated that compositing to 1m was
necessary. Search ellipse sizes and orientations for the estimation
were based on drill hole spacing, the known orientations of
mineralisation and variography. A Kriging Neighbourhood Analysis
was also carried out using Kriging Variance, Kriging Efficiency and
Slope of Regression to optimise search parameters. An "unfolding"
search strategy was used which allowed the search ellipse
orientation to vary with the locally changing dip and strike.
After statistical analysis, a top cut of 5% was applied to Sn%
and W%; no top cut is applied to Li%. Sn%, W% and Li% were then
estimated by Ordinary Kriging within the geological solids.
(The full graphic of Figure 3 - "Easting Section at -778890E
showing Lithium grade estimates"- will be available on the European
Metals website www.europeanmet.com and in the ASX announcement to
be released prior to ASX market open Monday, 20 February 2017.)
The primary search ellipse was 150m along strike, 150m down dip
and 7.5m across the mineralisation. A minimum of 4 composites and a
maximum of 8 composites were required. A second interpolation with
search ellipse of 300m x 300m x 12.5m was carried out to inform
blocks to be used as the basis for an exploration target. Block
size was 5m (E-W) by 10m (N-S) by 5m.
Validation of the final resource has been carried out in a
number of ways including section comparison of data versus model,
swathe plots and production reconciliation.
Densities applied for Mineral Resource tonnage calculations are
based on historical bulk density measurements of 2.57 for granite
and 2.70 for greisen, confirmed by laboratory measurements in
2016.
The impact of the new European Metals drill holes on the
geological model and the block model have been reviewed. Globally
the geology and resource model are similar to the previous
(November 2016) model, with only relatively minor local changes to
grade distributions. The increase in confidence resulting from the
new drill data has allowed additional areas of the block model to
be upgraded in classification from Inferred to Indicated.
Qualified Person:
Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the
information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor
of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of
Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School.
- Ends -
For further information
please contact
Rare Earth Minerals plc +44 (0) 207 440 0647
Andrew Suckling
Kiran Morzaria
WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD
& Broker) +44 (0) 207 220 1666
James Joyce
James Bavister
Square1 Consulting +44 (0) 207 929 5599
David Bick
Brian Alexander
About Rare Earth Minerals
Rare Earth Minerals invests across the globe, principally in
lithium mining projects. Its primary strategy is taking significant
economic stakes in upstream exploration and development assets
within strategic metals. We identify assets that have strategic
cost advantages that are not replicable, with the aim of achieving
lower quartile production costs. The combination of this approach
and seeking value opportunities allows us to identify projects
capable of achieving high rates of return.
The Rare Earth Minerals board has a blend of mining, commodity
investing, fund management and deal structuring knowledge and
experience, that is supported by access to key marketing, political
and industry contacts. These resources are leveraged not only in
our investment decisions but also in continuing support of our
investments, whether it be increasing market awareness of an asset,
or advising on product mix or path to production. REM's goal is to
assist management to rapidly develop the project up the value curve
and deliver excellent returns on its investments.
Rare Earth Minerals are major shareholders of the Sonora Lithium
Project in northern Mexico and the Cinovec Lithium and Tin Project
in the Czech Republic. Rare Earth Minerals portfolio also includes
significant lithium-based investments the USA, Australia and
Namibia. The Mexican and Czech deposits have published Indicated
and Inferred Mineral Resources more than 15 million tonnes of
Lithium Carbonate Equivalent.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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